A View From The Bridge Previews — Page 2

I was there tonight and really enjoyed this production. At the last minute, I was upgraded from my linctix seats (which were not bad, rear mezz) to second row stage seats. If you have a choice, I highly recommend getting the stage seats. I thought this was the perfect way to experience a show like this. Sitting onstage, I felt right in the middle of the action, the claustrophobic nature of the stage heightened the tension in the piece.

I admit that I have somehow never seen a production of A View From the Bridge, but one of the benefits of this production is that it really focuses in on the text of the play which is an absolute pleasure. The final scene's staging is shocking and brilliant, straight out of Greek tragedy.

One of the biggest assets is Mark Strong who is fantastic as Eddie. He commands the stage, and is truly terrifying by the end. I'd hope he gets remembered come Tony time. Nicola Walker is also quite excellent as Beatrice.

Sadly, one bit that currently is an issue is accents. Phoebe Fox while quite a strong actress in her own right seemed to go in and out, and Russell Tovey who was one of the biggest draws of the play for me, and while I enjoyed his acting, for his accent he chose the 1920s newsboy approach. Other side characters went from Irish to sounding vaguely southern. I hope that there is some more time to be spent with the dialect coach before opening.

Overall though I thought the 2 hours flew by, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I'd be curious to hear how anyone sitting in the balcony found the experience.That said, even with shaky accents, I found it to be a thrilling night of theater.

I don't think it's really inappropriate for any age, but I don't know that anyone 15 and under would really comprehend/appreciate it.

I rushed tonight around 6:30pm, and got a balcony seat. Technically it wasn't rush as the balcony is being sold for $20 for the previews. I think it's a great view. Sat up there for many shows and I wasn't disappointed in the view. Plus, they're pretty open with you changing seats before the show as it was fairly empty.

The show itself is heavy. I didn't know the story going in, so it took awhile for me to totally get engaged, but by the end I was fully committed. The staging is super simple, and the only downfall of the balcony is that people further upstage are cut off from the looming black box. If the black box had been raised by 2ft, you'd be fine, but alas, you loose heads when they're upstage. Which really isn't an issue.

I agree Strong is really amazing, and overall I found the acting really engaging and interesting. But, the accents are terrible. I feel like, since they're doing it on a stark set that doesn't help locations, and modern dress, basically, why not just drop the accents and do it in their native tongue? Who cares? It won't really take away from the story. Fox was the highlight for me, but her accents raged from Irish to Cockney to Southern throughout the show. And woah, is to Tovey a looker. Even from the balcony I was taken by his looks. He's not the greatest actor on stage, he's a little too over the top with his part, but when he takes his shirt off.... yes.

I thought the direction was both graceful and a little heavy handed. It's a production that seems better suited for BAM than a commercial Broadway run, but hopefully it finds an audience.

Would you recommend I see this if I thought the last revival with Liev was just eh?

FindingNamo said: "The Mark Rylance Shakespeare plays. Well, at least Twelfth Night.

Richard III also had on-stage seating, as did Copenhagen many years back.

Does anyone know if the lead actors perform in the matinee shows through previews? I really want to see this and I'm in NYC early November but all my evenings are booked. I'd only be able to see this either the Sat or Sun matinee, but I really want to see Mark Strong. I've been disappointed in many matinee shows where the understudies perform. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but when you go specifically for a certain performer and they aren't there, its just disappointing.

Also if you had to pick: A View from the Bridge - Old Times - Therese Raquin?

Just be warned, the front row is a good seat, but I'm not sure how high the stage is, but the platform is built on top of the stage deck, so it's even higher, and the set is kind of like a big square with sides - kind of like Curious Incident, so you won't really get to see from the knee down. I think sitting up higher, in the balcony, is a better choice, but I did find it hard to hear at times. Plus you're looking at a glowing white floor the whole time.

Scarywarhol said: "Saw the NT Live broadcast of this and feel so alone. I thought it was gimmicky, tacky, and over-wrought. The production, that is--good performances. I've seen this whole bag of tricks used so many times. "

You are not alone. I also saw the broadcast and thought it was alternately extremely irritating and laughably bad. I love the play, and I think that the 2010 revival really captured what is so great about the piece. This production is so filled with "ideas" that the storytelling is sacrificed in order to allow the director to show off. I thought the production felt like it was staged by a 15-year-old who just discovered Brecht and decided he figured out how to "fix" this Arthur Miller classic.

RippedMan said: "Just be warned, the front row is a good seat, but I'm not sure how high the stage is, but the platform is built on top of the stage deck, so it's even higher, and the set is kind of like a big square with sides - kind of like Curious Incident, so you won't really get to see from the knee down. I think sitting up higher, in the balcony, is a better choice, but I did find it hard to hear at times. Plus you're looking at a glowing white floor the whole time. "

After seeing tonight's performance, I would highly recommend the rush tickets on the front row. I could see everything without any problems for most of the time, even their feet, but at certain points the faces of the actors were blocked by the set itself. It felt as intimate and intense as an onstage seat, and for only 20 dollars it's a pretty great deal. I loved the play itself, by the way. I'm a huge fan of the text by Miller itself, but I thought this production was really strong. Seeing Mark Strong in the lead is already one of the main reasons to go and see this. Quite remarkable.

^ Did you have any problems with hearing what was said on stage? Even I thought some parts were pretty hard to understand, and I was very close. Especially Eddies last words, which he said while laying in Beatrice's arms during the one but last scene. No clue on what he said there.

I did. I thought the wife was the best at projecting, but still remaining "real." Tovey was very over the top, but at least I could hear what he was saying. Bits and pieces were missed either due to the sound design or the actors. But I still think it's an interesting story. It's still a pretty basic story, which I found interesting. I just think it's an odd space for the piece. A commercial run on Broadway seems odd, but whatever. It's not my money. It would have felt at home at the American Airlines where it's a smaller house as far as space.

There were about 20 people at the stage door. It wasn't busy, but it was chaotic because there is no barricade and it is a busy street, and next to a parking garage. I went to meet Russell Tovey, who was as nice as can be (He takes photos and signs and came out with his adorable dog in tow). Normally I would have gotten the whole cast, but several cast members were out at the same time, which makes it difficult to get everyone though I did see others signing.

I saw the show last night and would echo what most are saying. If you have a choice, try and sit on stage. You will be more immersed in the action and even from the 4th row orchestra, I found moments hard to hear. The sound effects sometimes compound this issue. And shuffling in their seats audience members make concentration harder.

Something I haven't seen discussed -- the two immigrants are supposed to be from Italy. With all of the dialect work, why not give them Italian accents? Tovey in particular sounds more like Iowa farm hand.

Is A View From the Bridge the new Gypsy? We will have had 3 Broadway productions in a little over 15 years. The last revival was such perfection. Schreiber was magnificent and should have won the Tony. Johansson was wonderful and Hecht gave the best performance I've seen her give. The set, with those massive brick walls, was very imposing and the direction enriched the text; the whole thing was deeply poignant and affecting.

Perhaps there's an urge with these classics to shake things up because we've seen them so many times, but I don't think the gimmicks always work/serve the text. Personally I adore the text, and tonight I felt distracted by all the trappings (or lack thereof) rather than moved by van Hove's decisions.

Mark Strong was excellent and was the only cast member I felt who could compete with his or her counterpart in the last revival. Everyone else had their moments, but overall I don't think the cast was as strong as some of the other recent British casts we've had the pleasure of seeing in New York. The accents were all over the place, and they're actually quite important to the piece. I didn't like the decision to have the Italians completely accent-free and those already in Brooklyn sounded Irish, Scottish, English, and American, although never very much like the area that Miller so specifically describes at the top of the play. The setting is important to the piece and van Hove seems to have consciously removed as much of it as possible.

As disappointed as I was with certain aspects I still found myself swept up with the final act. I was sitting in the mezz, which I think was fine, but I would be wary of sitting in the balcony because of the set and staging.